Sydney, Dec 13: Australian researchers have found a drug that is effective in preventing breast cancer.

Professor Christobel Saunders from the University of Western Australia is one of the chief researchers in an international study which found that anastrozole drug could cut the risk of breast cancer in many women, with an extra benefit that it has few side effects, reported Xinhua.

Hundreds of post-menopausal women with a family history of breast cancer participated in the study.

The study found that post-menopausal women who took anastrozole for five years reduced their chance of developing breast cancer by 50 percent.

Saunders said the discovery in the study could benefit future generations of women.

"The findings from this research may provide a new approach to prevent breast cancer, not only for women today, but also for their daughters and granddaughters in the future," Saunders said in a statement.